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Tips to Avoid Pickpocketing While Traveling

Whether it’s home or abroad, traveling is bound to make you excited and maybe even a little distracted. So before any travel, knowing how to keep your personal items secure will help ensure you have the safest, most enjoyable trip possible. Unfortunately, even after you’ve put your mail on hold, set your alarm system, and notified your neighbors of your departure, you’re still not completely clear from burglary. Pickpocketing is quite common in certain cities, and tourists are often targeted. Here are some tips on how you can avoid getting pickpocketed, and how to help keep all of your luggage and personal belongings safe.

Hide Wallets

Where do you usually keep your wallet? Most men will often say they prefer to keep their wallet in their back pocket. While that may feel comfortable and safe in their own neighborhood, it may not be the best spot to stash it while traveling. In any highly active, very populated places, it’s best if you move your wallet from your back pocket to your front pocket or a bag. Pickpockets will often swipe wallets and other goods from pockets without being noticed. After all, being in a new place might mean that you’re distracted by all the new things around you.

Buy Small Padlocks for Your Luggage

Even if you put your wallet in a backpack or purse, it still doesn’t mean that it’s completely safe. In fact, if the bag you carry isn’t secured, you may make it easier for a thief to steal. Just as many pickpockets are adept at plucking wallets from back pockets, many are also skilled at quickly unzipping a bag and retrieving its contents. Securing the zippers of your bag with small padlocks will help keep thieves at bay.

Carry As Little As Possible

The more you have on you, the more attractive you’ll appear to thieves. Before you head out to explore, make sure that everything you’re taking with you is completely necessary. Avoid carrying any items you won’t really need while you’re out and about. Consolidate what you do take with you so you’re not carrying too many bags.

Get Some Travel Gear

There are many travel products out there that are actually made to prevent pickpocketing. For example: travel pouches can keep money and IDs on your chest and around your neck. And, while they are sometimes considered out-of-style, Fanny packs do a good job at putting personal items in view so you can better keep a close eye on them at all times.

Don’t Carry All of Your Important Documents with You

What’s worse than getting robbed in unfamiliar territory? Getting robbed and losing essential items like your passport, credit cards, or ID. If you’re out of the country and your passport has gone missing, you may be in that country for quite a bit longer until it can all be sorted out. Before you leave for your trip, make copies of your passport to carry around with you while you’re away from your hotel. As far as the original passport goes, keep that in a safe spot at the hotel.

Divide Your Money

It’s best not to keep all of your money in one place. Make sure to separate your money in different amounts and try to even keep different forms of money on you. Instead of keeping all your paper money and credit cards in your wallet, you can separate where you store your credit cards and your paper bills. This reduces the chance of you losing everything if you happen to be pickpocketed. Another thing you should also consider is leaving some money in your hotel room or wherever you are staying.

Don’t Stand Out

It’s quite common (and expected) for most tourists to stand out. You can do everything to help prevent being robbed, but if you really stand out in a crowd, you may easily attract the attention of pickpockets. Perhaps the best piece of advice for anyone traveling to a new place is to do your best not to look like a tourist. Try to blend in, and would-be robbers will likely not pay any attention to you.

Be Alert

Becoming distracted is understandable while you’re off exploring new areas of the nation or the world. After all, the whole point of traveling abroad is to experience new cities, cultures, and people. But if you’re too distracted, you may become obvious prey for pickpockets and thieves. Be aware at all times of not only what’s in your pockets, but also of any bags you’re carrying.
If you follow these tips, you’ll have comfort in knowing you’re taking the extra steps to help keep your personal items secure. Happy travels!

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